Charcoal Dust
by Adinyne
Summary: Edward does a little snooping in Bella's room while she's gone. One-shot! BXE Fluff!


**I do not own Twilight. This was just something that has been in my head for a while. FYI I'm not an art student. Please review. Enjoy~**

He slinked through the window and assessed the room. His chilling, golden eyes noted a white piece of notebook paper lying innocently on the desk holding the ancient computer. Looking it over, he sighed. 'She went to the store. She won't be back for a while.' Placing the note back onto the wooden surface, he groaned and took a seat on the bed. Glancing around for some way to entertain himself, he spotted a thin layer of black dust near the center of the room.

Curious, he fingered the powder, lifting it to his sensitive nose and inhaling. He quirked a brow. "Charcoal?" Looking around for the source, a glitter of white caught his eye. Flipping up the comforter, he pulled out a large, black, flat folder type thing complete with papers shoved hastily into it. Opening it up, he realized they were not papers but drawings. Mostly black and white. He furrowed his brow. "So it's artist's charcoal?"

Digging through the mountainous pile, he discovered that many of the drawings were landscapes. They depicted elaborate scenes anywhere from Forks, to what may have been La Push, to the breathtaking coast of Greece or the tall, overpowering pines of Canada. There were many pages of various animals ranging from majestic hawks to flamboyant butterflies.

Reaching the bottom of the pile, he was astonished to find near flawless replicas of himself and the members of his family. Their portraits were of them all together, laughing and enjoying themselves freely. There were even a few of them hunting. They were terrifyingly accurate. Their likeness flowing graciously while they followed their food of choice closely behind dawning with a look of ferocious hunger that only came with their kind.

He stiffened as the bedroom door opened. "Edward?" He turned to look her in the eye. Looking like a deer caught in headlights, she spun around only to meet his chest. Taking her by the arm, he tried to put her at ease. "Bella, wait!" She looked away, her cheeks a bright, rose red. "What are you doing going through my things?" she whispered.

"Bella," he said completely ignoring her question. "Did you draw these?" She huffed in embarrassment. "Yes." Edward grinned. "Why on Earth, love, would you hide such an amazing talent?"

She scowled in disbelief. "Talent? Are you kidding me, Edward? I never said anything because everyone always makes such a big fuss over how good I am but the truth is, I'm horrible!"

Edward frowned. He saw nothing but small harmless flaws in her renditions but even the most talented artists in the world made mistakes. Why was it that every human artist _loathed _all of their work and their abilities?

"Bella, what do you mean? These pieces are absolutely stunning. Why, love, do you have an uncanny ability to put down yourself?" Bella rolled her eyes as she snatched up a few drawings from the pile. She shoved a drawing of Alice under his nose.

"You see this? Right there! Alice's ear looks funny poking out of her hair like that and her jaw is too low!"

Shuffling the papers again she showed him another picture of a fiery phoenix.

"This ones wing is crooked! Also the eyes are too far apart! It looks like some sort of creature from the black lagoon!"

Edward quirked a brow as Bella began pointing out the irrelevant flaws of her art. With a short laugh, he pulled her to him, taking her mouth captive. In a daze, Bella dropped the pictures onto the pile. Releasing her, he bent down and zipped the portfolio back up. Cupping her chin, he brushed his finger along her cheek.

"Love, please stop fretting over silly little mistakes that even the greatest artists make."

The next morning, Edward dragged a sleepy Bella from the warmth of her bed. "Edward, why must we go to your house this early?" she frowned, her voice thick with sleep. "It's supposed to rain around ten o'clock. I thought you liked to watch us play baseball."

With the current newsflash of a possible vampire ballgame, Bella's mood lifted.

Stepping through the Cullens' grand front door, they were met with the grinning faces of all five of the Cullen faces, minus Rosalie who stood to the side looking awkward.

Bella was hit with a wave of confusion and nervousness. "What's going on?" Alice skipped up to her unnerved best friend and pulled her into the hallway with everyone following. "We want to show you something."

Carlisle flipped on the switch. Bella gasped, her face turning a deep scarlet as she saw every one of her drawings framed and hung in the hallway. Her face burning, Bella turned to her vampire family.

"Why?" she breathed.

"Because they're too dazzling to be zipped away in some portfolio." Rose smiled softly.

**This is so true. I'm unhappy with just about everything I produce and I have people tell me it's great all the time and yet I still find many flaws that drive me insane! Till next time~**


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